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Here's the scoop: January 9, 2013

Bubbling over
I finally made the move. Actually, the move was made on my behalf, but I’m glad it happened. I’m now the proud owner of a Sodastream.

Sure, I know what you’re thinking: Duh, what took you so long?
It’s well-known in certain circles that I love drinking seltzer. Lots and lots of seltzer. It’s a nice beverage — a bit fizzy, no calories and it tastes good. What’s not to like?

Just in case there happens to be someone out there who is not aware of the wonders of a Sodastream, this device is basically a seltzer-maker. Fill up a specially-designed water bottle, place it on the Sodastream, push the carbonation button a few times and you’re ready to swig.
I’m oversimplifying the process at bit. It seems to me there’s an art to getting the perfect amount of fizz. Hopefully, it shouldn’t take long to master.

In all honesty, I have been interested in a Sodastream for awhile, but have been waiting for someone to buy me one. That happened when my daughter zeroed in on my subtle hint, “I hope I get a Sodastream for Christmas” and delivered the goods.

So many choices
I knew that a Sodastream was supposed to save a ton of money vs. buying canned or bottled seltzer. What I didn’t know was that there were a ton of flavor choices available to use with the machine. I was pretty excited about breaking out of the lemon-lime and black cherry flavored rut, until I noticed that the prepackaged offerings had calories. Not a lot of calories, but some. This fact went against my guilt-free, multi-seltzer consumption habit.

Well, my seltzer swilling wasn’t totally without guilt — I was sometimes made to feel a bit ashamed for contributing to the world’s waste problems by purchasing so many seltzer containers. In my defense, I always recycled.

Anyhow, looking through the multitude of flavor options, I found there were a couple of calorie-free choices. Unfortunately, these packets had more chemicals than a hydrofracking well. On the bright side, a quick Internet search revealed that there were, indeed, all-natural flavor essences available from the company.

Just squeeze it
“Or, you can squeeze in a lemon or lime,” a co-worker explained with a slightly mocking tone. Oh, yeah.

Other than the initial purchase (zero for me!), the only real cost of operating the Sodastream seems to be the periodic replacement of the carbonating cartridges. I can deal with that issue. Plus, I’m sure those cartridges make great holiday gifts — and they’re easy to wrap!

Naturally, I was so happy with my entry into Sodastream World that I couldn’t wait to tell the news to my co-workers. I knew that one of the staff had been a longtime Sodastream fan. What I didn’t know (or likely had forgotten) was everyone in the office already had a Sodastream. This certainly took some fizz out of my announcement. It seems like we’re rapidly (some faster than others) becoming a Soda Water Carbon Nation.
— Brian Sweeney